Makes No Difference Who You Are
by Patch444
Summary: When Kuni makes a "special" wish upon a wishing star, he gets more than he bargained for! Nuff said... KuniXKagu
1. When You Wish Upon a Star

It was yet another beautiful day in the land of Nippon. The whether wasn't too hot or too cold. Just how a certain young miko liked it. Kagura, popular child actress of Sei-An City, was taking advantage of the current outdoor conditions to perform her daily miko exercises and meditation in the nearby garden. The young girl clutched an exorcism slip in one hand as she twirled and danced around, gracefully, her eyes closed, breathing in and out, slowly. She was also wearing her miko outfit in order to better enhance her spiritual ballet.

Not too far from where Kagu whirled about, stood a small tree, and behind that small tree, there stood a young boy in purple warrior attire, a large wooden sword strapped to his back. The boy had his head poked just around the trunk of the small tree that concealed him, and he was gazing at Kagu as she danced about, with deep admiration in his beady little eyes. His name was Kuninushi, or Kuni for short, a boy who spent most of his time on a mission to find out who he really was, though more than often however, he would find himself tangled up in some sort of wild and crazy misadventure or another with his friends. However, he wasn't hiding behind a tree in the middle of a garden for either of those reasons. No, today Kuni had something special in mind.

The young swordsman let out a deep sigh as he continued to gaze at the exercising exorcist, misty-eyed. After a few seconds, he managed to snap himself out of his own trance-like state and immediately ducked back behind the tree, fearing that someone may have heard/seen him. Then Kuni suddenly remembered why he was there in the park, hiding behind a tree , which in reality served no means of concealment whatsoever as this was a public park, while making goo-goo eyes at Kagu. The boy walked over to a nearby koi pond and stared at his own reflection and began to talk to himself.

"This is it," said Kuni of the koi pond, "today's the day, it's finally time."

"I-I'm not so sure that I'm mentally prepared for this yet," Kuni admitted, "maybe I shouldn't do this yet..."

"Oh, don't give me that excuse, ya big baby," scolded the second Kuni, "this is what we've been training for, kid. This is why we're here!"

Kuni scratched the back of his head.

"B-bu-but what if she turns me down," he asked his reflection, "wh-what if she flat out rejects me and never speaks to me again! I'll be doomed to remain forever alone!"

"Get ahold of yourself, wimp!" snapped the other Kuni, "You're Kuninushi, kid warrior, raised and trained by Susano, the greatest warrior who ever lived! There ain't nothin' you can't do!"

Kuni straightened up.

"Y-your right," he said, "I CAN do this! I'm GONNA do this, I WILL do this!"

Kuni of the koi pond sprang into a salute.

"At ease, soldier!" he said.

Kuni saluted his reflection in response and turned around. He was surprised to see a mother and her daughter staring at him. After a long moment of silence, Kuni shooed them away.

"Mommy, who was da sword man talking to?" asked the little girl.

Kuni began marching over to Kagu in a marching band fashion. As he got closer, Kuni broke out into a nervous sweat. I can do this, I can do this, Kuni thought over and over again. As he got even closer, he began shaking. I can't do this, I can't do this, Kuni thought. He tried to turn around and make a break for it before Kagu noticed him but his legs seemed to be on autopilot and wouldn't stop. I'm gonna faint, OH MY GOD, I'm gonna pass out, Kuni thought. He was about three feet away from where Kagu stood. I'M GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE, Kuni thought. He was sweating, shaking, and trembling by the time he reached Kagu.

"HI, KAGU!" he blurted out.

Kagu jumped, turned around, and hurled her exorcism slip at Kuni, who ducked just in time. Kagu blinked.

"Oh, hey, Nushi," she greeted the young swordsman, who was curled up into a ball in a state of shock, "sorry about that, but you should know better than to sneak up on a highly trained miko like you just did."

Kuni slowly got up and dusted himself off.

"No s-sweat," he said, even though he was sweating...A LOT.

"Soooooo..." Kuni began, after he had regained his cool, "a-are you, um, b-bu-busy, er, I mean, are you GOING to be busy, y'know...later on?" Kuni turned red and looked down at his feet.

"No," Kagu answered, "some idiot brought his pipe into the playhouse during rehearsal and started a fire. We put those 'no smoking' signs in the main lobby for a reason." Kagu let out a deep sigh. "The theatre is under renovations right now, so I'm gonna have a lot of free time for the next couple of days."

"THAT'S GREAT!" Kuni cried, suddenly chirpy.

Kagu raised an eyebrow at him. Kuni turned red again.

"Er, I mean," he said, "that's bad, REALLY bad."

This was followed by an awkward moment of silence.

"Soooooo..." said Kuni.

"Soooooo...?" replied Kagu.

"Sooo, um, if you, um, aren't doing anything, y'know, later on..." Kuni began, he was blushing extremely hard, "w-w-would you like t-t-t-to, um," Kuni gulped before he stuttered out the next few words, "g-g-g-g-go s-see a show, get a bite to eat or *gulp* something?" Kuni turned around and covered his ears, fearing a negative response. He half-expected Kagu to explode in a fit of rage. But she didn't.

Kagu's cheeks turned a light shade of pink in response.

"Oh..." she said, "well, I'll have to check my schedule and all that, but if I'm free then sure, I'd love to." She turned to leave, still pink in the face, then looked back. "See you later, Kuni." she muttered, then she left.

Kuni was still crouching and covering his ears, he hadn't heard a thing that Kagu had said.

"Kagu?" he asked. Kuni uncovered his ears and turned around to see the empty space where the young actress had stood. His heart sank.

"She left," he said aloud, Kuni hung his head, "I guess that means no..."

A few hours later, Kuni sat by himself on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the city. There was a nearby cherry blossom tree and a large pond. This was the place where he would usually come to hang out with his friends. They would usually play and Manpuku would even bring a picnic sometimes, most of which he ate himself. Tonight, Kuni was alone, sitting on the edge of a cliff, a small flower in his hand, plucking the petals and tossing them into the air to be caught by the gentle nighttime breeze. Kuni plucked another petal.

"She loves me not, she loves me not," he said with each petal plucked. He was about to pluck another petal, but then stopped. He had accidentally plucked the flower in such a way that with the remaining petals, it looked like the flower headdress that Kagu wore with her usual outfit. Cursing his luck, Kuni threw the flower into the night. The boy let out a deep sigh. Crushed, he was simply crushed. Kuni turned his gaze toward the heavens above. It was one of those nights where you could make out nearly every single star in the cosmos. Thousands of twinkling lights shown overhead. Kuni hung his head, here he was, a hopeless young swordsman, sitting on a cliff, drowing in his own sorrow. Kuni returned his gaze to the heavens and nearly let out a surprised gasp. There, among the thousands of glittering stars, shown one star that glowed far brighter than the rest. This star was so different and glowed in such a unique way that made it stand out among the others that Kuni was sure that it hadn't been there a moment ago.

Kuni stared at this new star completely in awe, rooted to the spot by its hypnotic glow. Then Kuni remembered something that his adoptive mother, Kushi, had told him one night, before she tucked him in. If what she had said was true, then this could be a wishing star; a magical star that granted the wish of the first person to see it. Normally, Kuni would have written that off as pure superstition, but tonight was different. Kuni put his hands together and closed his eyes. Normally, he would have wished to know who he truly was, but tonight he was racked with so much grief that he didn't even consider that as an option.

"Star light, star bright," Kuni began, "first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight," Kuni gulped as he spoke the next few words, "I-I wish that someone, anyone, would help me to get Kagu to...*gulp*...like me."

And with that, Kuni opened his eyes, looked up, and nearly lost his balance and fell off the cliff.

The star was gone!

Kuni's eyes scanned the night sky, but he couldn't find the star anywhere. He knew that he hadn't imagined it. He couldn't have. So where was it? Kuni pondered this strange occurrence, turned his gaze out over the cliff, and breathed a sigh of relief. The wishing star was still there, GLOWING ABOVE THE FREAKIN' CITY! The star was actually hovering, no, MOVING above Sei-An...moving...floating...HEADING TOWARDS HIM! Kuni got up, then he realized just how fast the star was heading for him, there was no way that he could out run it! Kuni curled up into a ball.

"I TAKE IT BACK," he yelled, "NOW I WISH THAT THE WISHING STAR WON'T KILL ME!"

Kuni could see the light emitting from the star grow brighter as it got closer. He shut his eyes. Then, the light dimmed. Kuni could sense that the star was still glowing, but it wasn't glowing as bright as before. Kuni didn't dare open his eyes. Then he heard a familiar voice, a voice he thought that he would never hear again.

Or at least as long as he was alive.

"Yo, dude, long time no see."

**One guess. That's it.**

**Thanks for reading, there WILL be more chapters later on. **

**Till next time!**


	2. Makes no Difference Who You Are

"Yo, dude, long time no see."

Kuni uncurled himself and opened his eyes. In front of him, the wishing star continued to glow. Kuni could make out a figure silhouetted in front of it, but the star's blinding light kept him from making out any details.

"W-who are you?" Kuni asked, nervously, using his arm to shield his eyes from the light.

"C'mon, dude," answered the all-too familiar voice, "you remember me."

The light from the star slowly began to dim, the silhouetted figure became more and more recognizable. Finally, the light completely vanished. Kuni found himself staring at a young boy with long hair, wearing a strange outfit, and a pair of sandals. Kuni's jaw dropped.

"It's been a long time, Kuni." the boy said, flashing a dazzling smile.

Kuni just stared.

"Kurow..." he breathed.

"The one and only." the boy replied, holding his arms out to the side.

"Is it really you?" Kuni asked.

Kurow chuckled.

"In the living flesh, dude," he answered, "well, technically the UN-living flesh, not really flesh at all..."

Kuni suddenly realized what he was talking about. Kurow looked...different. Being a literal living doll of the prophet, Waka, Kurow apparently hadn't aged in the last few months, but there was definitely something off about him. His clothes looked the same, his hair looked the same, his face looked the same, but HE wasn't the same. If Kuni looked at Kurow closely, he could see through him, as if he was looking through a pane of glass. Kuni also noticed that there was some sort of loopy thing hovering above Kurow's head.

"Wait a minute," said Kuni, "aren't you supposed to be...dead?"

Kurow shrugged.

"Who says I'm not?"

Kuni turned pale.

"Th-then that means that I-I'm," Kuni went silent for a minute, then screamed, "I'M DEAD TOO!"

"Well actually-" Kurow began, before he was cut off by the now hysterical Kuni.

"The wishing star DID kill me!" Kuni wailed, "OH MY GODS, I'm too young and handsome to die!"

"Dude-" Kurow began.

"I'm not ready to die," Kuni hollered, "there are sooooo many things in life that I haven't gotten to do!"

In Kuni's mind, he was imagining himself 2,000 years in the future, working at an office. He was speaking into a telephone.

"Hang on, I'll transfer your call." he said to the person on the other line.

Back in reality, Kuni was still flipping out.

"I MEAN, I NEVER EVEN GOT TO KISS A GIRL! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO-"

Kurow smacked him across the face.

"Kuni, get a grip, man. You're not dead!"

"Oh," Kuni responded, suddenly calm, "but then, how come you're here? What are you anyway? What's that loopy thingie around your head?"

Kurow rolled his eyes.

"First off," he answered, "it's not a 'loopy thingie', it's a halo, all angels have one, which answers yet another question."

Kuni blinked.

"An angel," he inquired, "so you ARE dead?"

"Don't rub it in." Kurow said.

"So if you're dead but I can see you," Kuni inquired further, "then that means-"

"Keep going."

"-that I'm...actually..."

"Yeeeessss?"

"...chinese?"

Kurow smacked his forehead.

"No, you dolt," he moaned, "you're ALIVE, say it with me, ALIVE! I'M dead, I'm an angel, the halo was pretty self-explanatory!"

Kuni still was satisfied.

"But then why're you here?" he asked, "and what was with the wishing star?"

"It's like this," Kuorow began, he turned around dramatically to set the scene, "so, ya see, when someone with a virtuous soul dies, they become an angel, go up to Heaven in the Celestial Plain with all the gods, blah blah blah, you know the drill. BUT-" Kurow suddenly turned around and shoved his finger right in Kuni's face, "it isn't all peach fuzz and dandelions, or whatever, up there, just because you die, no matter what the cause; heart attack, sickness, or a valiant self-sacrifice like moi-" Kurow tossed his hair, "-ya have to, WARNING: Life after death spoiler alert, EARN yer eternal rest in paradise. Betcha didn't know THAT, did ya, boy?" Kuni was just about to answer, but Kurow continued. "So basically ya get, say, three star accommodations when you first arrive;" Kurow began counting off using his fingers, "freedom to do literally whatever you want, all the crap you can stomach, a decent pool, even get your own pad to hang in. The design depends on your religion; Christians get a biblical setting, ya know crosses and all that, Hindus get a hindu theme, Buddhists get all the fat-guy statues that they want, and Shinto believers like us get a sweet asian motif for our rooms. They all come with free cable of course."

"Is this going anywhere?" asked an impatient Kuni.

"Please, save all of your questions until after the demonstration," Kurow answered, "aaaanyway, the basic accommodations are pretty nice, BUT, if you really want to spend the rest of eternity in luxury then ya gotta," Kurow made air quotes with his fingers, "'earn your wings'. Now I know what yer thinkin', why would we need wings? We're angels, we can fly without em. Well I'm not talking about the regular type of wings, fast food or otherwise. I'm talking about an all-access pass to the sweet life; a five star room with a king size bed, a water bed I might add, your own 100,000,000HD 3D movie screen, complete with GODCAST ON-DEMAND, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U-" Kuni raised his hand, "those won't be invented for another two to three thousand years, by the way," Kuorw answered, "Where was I? Oh yeah! I'm talking free ten star room service, hot babes delivering ya free martinis, don't tell the hot scholar lady I said that last one, until ya die! Oh wait, it's Heaven, YOU CAN'T DIE! So now you're probably wonder-" Kuni had fallen asleep (as will most of the readers by this point). Kurow snapped his fingers. Kuni opened his eyes.

"Ya,ya, don't tell the scholar lady, got it." Kuni mumbled.

"-ing how does one go about earning his wings. Well, here's the thing; the gods, all of them, send out these beacons of light that pick up on a mortal's strong sense of need. All the mortal has to do is make a wish upon these 'wishing stars' and an un-winged angel will help that mortal out. If the angel succeeds in giving the wisher what he wished for, boom baby, wings and a one-way ticket to fancy living! So tonight, one of the wishing stars was just hovering over Sei-An when some mortal who's in desperate need of some divine intervention makes a wish, that wisher would be YOU of course, Kuni ol' pal. So the gods choose this totally awesome dude angel who hasn't earned his wings yet to go down and help this poor sap out. Aren't you a little curious to know who that angel was?" Kuni was just about to answer when Kurow grabbed his face and began to shake Kuni's head up and down, making it look like Kuni was nodding. "Are ya, are ya, huh? Are ya?" Kurow asked. After letting Kuni go, Kurow continued. "Well," he began, "it was your's truly!" Kurow puffed out his chest and tried to look dramatic.

"So, you wanna help me so you can earn your wings and get better afterlife accommodations?" Kuni summarized.

Kurow thought for a minute.

"Yeah, I guess I COULD have just told you THAT." he muttered, then floated over to Kuni, "so what's your troubles, pal? Kurow's in the house and he aims to please." Kurow took a bow.

Kuni blushed.

"Well," he mumbled, "there is this one girl who-"

"Ooohhhh," said Kurow, he began nudging Kuni on the shoulder with his elbow, "so little Romeo's got his sights set on a little Juliet, eh?"

"It's not like that!" Kuni blurted out.

"Suuurree it's not," Kurow teased, "so who IS this girl, anyone we know?"

Kuni began twiddling his thumbs.

"Well, we've both met her," he admitted, "she's a friend of ours."

"Nanami?" Kurow guessed.

"What, no! It's not her!" Kuni answered.

"Ayame?"

"Nope."

"The young version of Sakuya?"

"Not even close, and ewwwww!"

"That one orphaned girl in Sei-an?"

"Nuh uh, but she does live in Sei-An."

"Miko Cho!"

"NO!"

"The scholar chick! Oh, you son of a-!"

"IT'S KAGU, SHERLOCK!"

"That would've been my next guess." Kurow muttered. Then he blinked. "Wait, you mean, Kagura? That miko girl?"

"Technically she's an actress too, but yeah, she's the one." Kuni looked down at his feet. It felt kinda weird for him to hear himself say that.

Kurow looked puzzled. He scratched his head.

"But, the two of you didn't even meet each other until a few months ago." he stated.

Kuni sighed. "I know, I know," he said, "I know that it's kind of...weird b-but I just sort of...like her a little."

Kurow thought for a minute.

"Now that I think about it, you and Kagu both have HUGE egos and aren't very bright," he admitted, "you two actually would make a semi-cute couple."

"Thanks," said Kuni, "I think..."

Kurow rested up against the blossom tree.

"So, did you ask her out? If so, how'd it go, dude."

Kuni related what had happened to his semi-deceased companion. He left out the bit with him talking to himself and the weird looks that the passing mother and her daughter had given him. Kurow laughed when Kuni told him about how he had caught Kagu off guard and how she had thrown one of her exorcism slips at him in self defense, much to Kuni's utter annoyance. When he was finished, there was a moment of silence.

"Bummer, dude," said Kurow, "sorry that happened." he looked down towards the city, "That doesn't sound like something that Kagu would do, though, ya know? Just taking off like that, she's not THAT rude."

Kuni sighed.

"Now what do I do?" he asked.

Kurow smiled and got up.

"I'll tell you what yer NOT going t'do," he answered in that cool and suave way he always did, "give up, because I'M gonna help you win little miss miko over."

"How?" Kuni asked.

Kurow laughed, much to his suprise.

"Dude, do you know who I am?" he asked, "I'm K-U-R-O-W, thats with a U instead of a W in some countries, I'm KUROW. If I don't know how to get the ladies, then no one does!"

Kuni smiled, he began to fill with hope.

"That's right,' he agreed, "I mean, you were able to woo that scholar lady, and she's waaaayy out of your league!"

Kurow glared at him.

"No, offense," Kuni added, quickly.


	3. Anything Your Heart Desires

The next morning, Kuni was walking through the streets of Sei-An City. For some reason, the place was packed. People were everywhere, some were shopping but most were setting up booths and/or banners. Kuni barley noticed this and continued walking. Finally, he saw Kagu standing outside of one of the shops. Kuni gulped and ducked into one of the nearby allies.

"Kurow," he whispered.

"You rang?"

Kuni gasped as Kurow seemingly appeared out of thin air.

"What was that!" the ghost boy demanded.

"How did you-?" Kuni began.

"Angelic powers and whatnot," Kurow answered, "but seriously, WHAT WAS THAT! She was right there dude! If I'm gonna help you, you've got to put a little effort into it."

"I know, I know," Kuni groaned.

Not too far from the alley, the same mother and her daughter from the day before were shopping at an outdoor kiosk. The little girl noticed Kuni in the alley, but he had his back to her, thus obscuring Kurow from her vision. The little girl could, however, here the boy talking. She tugged on her mother's robe and pointed toward Kuni.

"Mommy, that boy is talking to himself again." she complained.

"Just ignore him, sweetie." her mother answered.

Meanwhile, Kuni was still talking with Kurow.

"So is there, like, a basic protocol for this or what?" Kuni asked.

Kurow put his arm around his "uneducated" friend. He was also suddenly wearing shades and was speaking in a different accent.

"Listen, buddy, here's the deal," Kurow said smoothly, "If ya wanna court the little lady ya gotta be a sharp shooter, do ya got me?" Kurow made his fingers into a gun shape and pretended to fire to better emphasize.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kuni asked, confused.

"It just means what it means."

"So I should shoot her?"

"No! You don't shoot her until the honeymoon! That way you can claim her half of her families' fortune. Er, not that I would know! Just go out there and pour on the charm."

Kuni was just about to walk out of the alleyway, when Kurow stopped him.

"Wait," Kurow snapped his fingers, "quick recap of what i've missed since i've been dead."

"Kagu's miko powers went out of control and nearly ruined one of my eyes, she got kidnapped by Genji, I was mistaken as an incarnate of the god of love by an overly religious society due to my hairstyle, we found out what happens when Manpuku eats spicy food, Nanami and Kagu tried to give Mutt a bath, and sometime during the winter, Nanami's hair turned to solid ice."

"I'll take your word for it," Kurow replied.

Kuni straightened himself up and marched on out of the alleyway. Kagu was still window-shopping, although she could probably afford just about anything that the store had to offer.

"Hey, Nushi," she unexpectedly said, which caught Kuni completely off-guard. When he proved hesitant to respond, Kagu giggled.

"Don't worry, I won't throw another exorcism slip at you...today." she promised.

"That's great...I think." Kuni answered. He blushed. "So um, Kagu, about yesterday-"

"Oh yeah," Kagu interupted, "I checked my schedule and I'm free tonight, great timing right?"

Kuni blinked. Had Kagu just said what he thought she said?

"W-what are you talking about?" he asked, nervously.

Kagu turned and stared at him, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Did you forget? You asked me if I wanted to hang out yesterday and I told you that if my schedule was clean, that I'd love to."

Kuni gulped.

"Y-you did?" he asked. Kagu nodded.

"Yeah, remember? Your wanted to see a show, maybe get a bite to eat or something. Remember?"

Kuni racked his brains for an answer. If Kagu had said THAT to him, he definitely would have remembered. He began to sweat.

"Er, um, YEAH, of course I remember...you saying that. Why wouldn't I? Hehe..." Kuni lied. There was an awkward moment of silence. Not too far away, Kurow was observing Kuni's progress. He smacked his forehead.

"So which of the three options are we going with?" asked a nervous Kuni. "The show, the bite to eat, or the 'something'?"

Kagu raised an eyebrow.

"You haven't noticed?" she asked, "Look around you," Kagu motioned to all of the booths and decorations being put up, "tonight's the Sei-An lantern festival. We can do all three!"

Kuni turned pale. "All three"! He had expected it to be a short date, not an all- nighter!

"W-wouldn't that be more of a g-group thing?" he asked.

Kagu nodded.

"Yeah," she said, "but apparently Nanami lost her Wet and Dry Jewels again, Manpuku has a stomach ache, and Pooch finally threw out his back from carrying us. So it'd be just you and me."

Kuni couldn't believe it! Why did this all those things have to happen TODAY? Nanami losing her magical jewels happened on a regular basis but Manpuku getting a stomach ache! What were the chances of that?

"I dunno," said Kuni, scratching the back of his head, "I mean I love festivals and all but-"

"But what?" Kagu asked, looking a little hurt.

Kuni had to think fast. After quickly calculating in his brain what HE thought would be the most appropriate response to Kagu's question, this is what he came up with:

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-"

Kagu hung her head.

"That's okay," she sighed. She turned to leave, then stopped.

"I just thought that..." she mumbled.

"What?" Kuni asked.

Kagu turned to face him.

"Well, most of Pooch's partners knew each other before we battled Akuro," she began, "you met Nanami before, she knew Kurow, he knew Manpuku, I knew Kurow, and i met up with Nanami and Manny on the way to the dark realm. But you and I never really met until the battle was over." Kuni could feel Kurow sending him a mental "I told ya so", "and even after the battle, we all parted ways for about a week before we all began to hang out. Even then, you and I never really-"

"You and I hang out all the time, Kagu." Kuni stated.

"Yeah, but this is different," Kagu pointed out. She turned away, "I just thought that you and I could get a chance to talk and...get to know each other better, like the rest of our friends..."

Kuni was surprised. He never knew that Kagu felt that way. As he thought about what Kagu had said, he noticed that Kurow was watching them from afar. Kurow was making odd gestures with his hands which Kuni assumed to be some sort of code that they hadn't created and that Kurow had just made up on the fly. Kuni shrugged to show that he didn't know what the heck it was that Kurow was trying to tell him. Kurow smacked his forehead AGAIN, calmed himself down, and made his fingers into a gun shape. He even began to make firing sound effects.

Kuni gulped and turned to Kagu.

"Then I'm in," he said.

Kagu looked up.

"What?" she asked.

Kuni blushed.

"Let's hang out tonight," he managed to squeak out. He saw Kurow giving him the thumbs up sign.

Kagu smiled happily.

"O-oh, good," she said. Kagu's cheeks were turning pink, "could you pick me up t-tonight at my house?"

"S-sure," Kuni replied, he turned to leave but ended up walking into a souvenir cart, which began rolling away. The owner of said cart followed in pursuit. The cart hit a rock and went flying into the nearest canal.

Kuni and Kagu just stood their, speechless. Finally, Kagu broke the silence.

"Think he'll be mad?"

"Nah, look he's fine," Kuni pointed out, "look, he's even calling us number one." Kagu squinted.

"No he's not, he's-"

"I know what he's doing." Kuni interrupted, grumpily. He cupped his hands and called out; "YOU'RE NOT SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR SOCIETY! Oh, now he's calling us number two."

**Well, that's it for now. It may be while before I get the next few chapters done, or even start working on them. So look forward to it! Please review!**


	4. Will Come To You

It was a beautiful night. Crickets chirped, a gentle breeze blew through the air, adding a sense of tranquility to the environment. The moon shown bright in the darkened sky, surrounded by thousands of sparkling lights. Despite all of the light hanging overhead, the earth below was covered in a blanket of darkness. Except for Sei-An City that is. The humble city was practically a glowing beacon, a lighthouse in the sea of darkness that surrounded it. Although it was clearly nighttime, the citizens of Sei-An wouldn't know the difference between night and day on this particular evening. Tonight was the Sei-An City Lantern Festival!

Townsfolk frolicked about the city, greeting one another, admiring the sights, all of them bathed in the glow of over one thousand colorful lanterns, hence the name of the festival. Shop owners were taking advantage of the situation by offering one time deals on souvenirs, crappy junk food, and mini lanterns: guaranteed to float twenty feet in the air before turning into a blazing inferno and falling to the ground (that last part was NOT advertised)! Amidst all of the hulabaloo, Kuni stood about thirty feet from Kagu's house. Being an adventurer, Kuni didn't own any other clothes besides his purple warrior attire so he hadn't changed into anything fancy. He hoped Kagu wouldn't mind. Kurow had taken the liberty of using his angelic powers to transform himself into a floating ball of light. He blended in perfectly with the glow of the lanterns.

"Okay, so like, why am I here again?" Kurow asked. Kuni rolled his eyes and turned to face his "ghost ball" of a wing man.

"I already told you, you're going to come with me on my da- er...outing with Kagu. That way, if I get cold feet or don't know what say, you'll be there to help me." Kuni explained, for the third time...this hour.

"Wait, won't Kagu see me?" Kurow questioned.

"I've already figured a way around that." Kuni answered.

"How so?"

Kuni pointed to himself. "Get inside me." he commanded.

This was followed by a long moment of silence.

"Whhaaaaaaat?" Kurow sheepishly, a little creeped out. Kuni opened his mouth and pointed to it.

"Float...in..." Kuni ordered, his voice a little funny do to the fact that he was talking with his mouth open.

"THERE! No way, dude! That is sooo beyond my call of duty!" replied a now disgusted Kurow.

"You want your wings or not?" Kuni asked. He opened his mouth again.

Kurow would have swooned if he hadn't been a floating ball of light. Reluctantly, he began to float toward his friends oral orifice. Kuorw looked into Kuni's mouth and shuddered.

"This is gonna be sick," he groaned, "and not the good kind of sick." Closing his eyes (if he had any at the time) and taking a deep breath (if he has lungs at the time), Kurow darted into Kuni's mouth. The boy immediately began coughing and wheezing. His eyes bulged. Finally, his breathing relaxed.

"You in there, Kurow?" Kuni asked.

"What?" came a reply, "I can't hear ya, dude! I think I took a wrong turn and wound up in your lower intestine. It's NASTY down here. Ever thought about going on an all fiber diet?"

"Get out of there! Whatever you do, don't go down the dark tube!"

"Wazat? I can't hear you! I'm gonna try to get back to yer head!"

Kuni began grasping his stomach.

"Stop, that tickles!" he demanded. "GHAHAHAHEEHOOWAHAHAHA!" Kuni thrashed about like a dancing eel.

"Is this your heart?" came Kurow's voice. Kuni let out a high pitched squeal and nearly doubled over from the sheer discomfort.

"Wait...nope that was kidney."

Kuni was breathing heavily.

"Be...careful...you...dol-GAHWAHAHA!"

"I think THAT was an artery...maybe...either that or a tumor, I'm not sure."

Kuni managed to regain his senses.

"Hey, wait a minute," he said, "if you're an angel, then why can't you just float THROUGH the rest rest of my body rather than having to find you way around?"

"Huh," came the response, "Dude, I seriously CANNOT hear ya! It's like a maze in here! Help me out! Wait, never mind, I think i found me an elevator."

Kuni blinked.

"Wait, there's no elevator inside my-" he was suddenly interrupted by a strange clicking noise, like the sound of a button being pressed.

"Hmmm, the buttons light up." Kuni heard Kurow say. this was followed by several more 'clicks', as if SEVERAL buttons were being pressed.

Kuni rolled his eyes.

"Oh, nice try, Kurow," he snorted, "I know that you're just-" Then Kuni heard a strange sound, coming from INSIDE of himself! It sounded like music...elevator music!

"Kurow, how are you do-" he began, before he was cut off once again by his glowing companion.

"Hmmm, short ride up."

Kuni suddenly felt a little nauseous. The boy grasped his noggin, slightly swooning from side to side.

_My head feels fuzzy_, he thought.

"Did you put in new carpet or something?" he heard Kurow ask.

"No, Kurow, why would I-" Kuni stopped for a moment. How had he...? Was it even possible? Did Kurow just...?

_K-Kurow, _he thought, _is that you? _

"No, it's Pinocchio." came the sarcastic response.

_Are you in my head?_

"I think so, yeah."

Kuni gasped. He nearly fell over in shock from realization.

_Y-you're reading my thoughts!, _Kuni mentally exclaimed.

"Well duh, dude, I'm near your brain," Kurow replied, "Sweet, I can see out of your eyeballs too! I can see what you're seeing! Righteous, man!"

_This is great,_ Kuni thought, _now, I can communicate with you without Kagu catching on!_

"Then what're ya waiting for, man? Let's do this thing!"

Kuni strode over to the front door. This was it, Kuni could hardly believe that he was doing this. After making sure that his hair was neat, Kuni took a deep breath and knocked. A few seconds later, Kuni heard some footsteps coming from the other side.

"Who is it?" came Kagu's voice from the opposite side of the door. Just the sound of her voice caused Kuni to break out into a sweat.

"I-it's K-Kuni." he answered. Kuni could hear Kagu muttering something from behind the door.

"Just a sec." Kagu insisted. Kuni heard her muffled footsteps grow fainter as she apparently walked away. A few minutes later, Kuni heard the sound of Kagu's approaching footsteps. The door opened, Kuni's jaw dropped and his eyes nearly shot out of his head at what he saw. Kuni had assumed that Kagu would either have worn her regular attire or her miko outfit. On the contrary, he was wrong on both accounts. Kagu wore a beautiful pink and red kimono, which sported some sort of floral pattern. Her jet black hair had been brushed and washed to a sheen, and was tied up into a single long ponytail. Kagu also wore two faux flowers in her hair. Kuni couldn't help but gawk at her appearance. Kagu took note of this, and struck a pose.

"Do you like it?" she asked? Kuni just kept staring, his mouth still wide open.

"Mayday, mayday," Kurow barked, "Dude, stop staring! You're gonna creep her out!" Kuni was so enthralled by Kagu's appearance that he didn't hear a word Kurow had said. He just kept goggling at Kagu.

"DUDE, YOUR NOSE IS BLEEDING! GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!" Kurow hollered. Kuni snapped out of his trance and suddenly realized how warm his body had become. Gulping, the boy wiped the trickle of blood from his upper lip, his face was as red as a chili pepper.

"Er, um, y-you look great." Kuni finally answered in response to Kagu's question. The young miko giggled.

"Thanks," she replied.

"So, um, are your parents okay with this?" Kuni asked, "I mean, don't they think that the two of us are a little young to be going out on a da- er, I mean an outing?" Kagu blushed and looked down at her feet.

"You can call it a *gulp* d-date if you want..." she told him. Kuni blushed even harder.

"O-okay," he croaked. "So we're on a date then..."

"As for my parents," Kagu began, "my father was a little skeptical at first, but after reminding him that I'd fought a couple of wannabe actor demons, faced the lord of darkness, and helped to save the world in the past, he agreed."

"And your mother?" Kuni inquired.

"Was all for it," Kagu answered, "she was so excited. All she did was go on and on about how grown up I am and how proud of me she is." Kagu chuckled, "She probably thinks that the two of us are going to get married, someday."

Kuni chuckled nervously. "Wouldn't that be something?" he joked. Kagu raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. Kuni coughed and tried to change the subject.

"So where are we going first?" he asked, quickly.

Kagu's answer came almost immediately. "Well, there's this nice restaurant that's just a short walk away from here." Kagu proposed, "It's nothing too fancy or expensive, but the food's okay."

"Okay, sounds good." Kuni concurred. He was a little hungry, now that he thought about it. Plus, dinner would be a great way to start the night off.

"Good, and after that, there's this show that they do around this time of year." Kagu continued, "We could go catch it, if you want?"

Before Kuni could even respond, Kagu went on.

"After that, we could go play at some of the booths, and after that, the two of us could watch the releasing of all the sky lanterns," Kagu held her hands to her chest, looked up at the night sky, and let out a deep, happy, sigh. "it's really pretty."

Kuni beamed. "Wow," he said, "you've really got tonight's schedule all figured out, don't you, Kagu?"

The young starlet nodded. "I just want to make tonight really special." she affirmed.

"Well then," Kuni roared in a dramatic fashion, he moved to one side and motioned for Kagu to start walking ahead of himself, "onward, my famous and oh-so popular companion! The night grows old!"

Playing along, Kagu bowed gracefully and spoke in a majestic tone; "As you wish my ever-so charming friend. Let us be off."

Kagu lead the way two the restaurant that she had mentioned earlier. On the way there, Kurow began preforming his duties as Kuni's dating consultant.

"Dude," the cranium occupying ghost boy began, "what are you doing?"

_Nothing, _Kuni mentally responded as Kagu continued to lead him to their destination, through the bustling crowd of people who were also enjoying this fine evening, under the glow of many lanterns.

"That's just it, dude," Kurow contended, "make small talk, ask her about herself, tell her...tell her 'you have beautiful eyes'."

Kuni was confused. _Why would I tell her that?"_ he asked.

Kurow smacked his forehead, which was hard to do considering that he was currently a limbless sphere of divine energy. "Just do it!" he insisted.

_Okay,_ Kuni thought. He turned to Kagu. "I have beautiful eyes." he told her.

Kagu stared at him for a moment. "Yes you do..." she agreed, a little weirded out. Kuni took this as a good sign and smiled.

_How'd I do, Kurow?_ he asked.

"Y'know, I hear that being single for life isn't all THAT bad"

Kuni muttered stuff about 'trial and error' all the way to the restaurant. A few minutes later, Kuni heard Kurow mutter, "Dude..."

_What is it?_ Kuni mentally asked.

"Well," Kurow awkwardly began, "remember when you were drooling over Kagu's appearance when she came out of her house a few minutes ago?"

_I was not! So?_

"Welllllllll, I might have been reading your mind at the time."

Kuni's heart almost stopped.

_ YOU DID WHAT!_

"Hey, calm down," Kurow insisted, "but anyways...dude," Kurow shook his head, (Yes, I am aware that he technically didn't have a head at the time, we've been over this!) "aren't you humans, like, not supposed to think THOSE kinds of thoughts until you're a bit older?"

Kuni tried his best to hide his embarrassment from Kagu, and instead tried to act normal.

_Okay, we've got to have some sort of protocol for when you can and, most importantly, when you CAN'T read my mind,_ he mentally told Kurow.

"Whatever you say, perv."

_HEY!_

**Well, that's it for now. This chapter was originally going to be longer but I was pressed for time. Again, it may be awhile before the next chapter is posted. I foresee at least three more chapters in the future.**

** Please review ;D !**


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